今天的文章選自經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人202302?The touchy-feely world of the metaverse and future?gadgets 外刊精讀只分享英語學(xué)習(xí)不談?wù)危ㄔu論區(qū)各位小伙伴可以學(xué)習(xí)交流）

?Soon, game players will able to pick things up-and feel the bullets, when they are hit.

很快，游戲玩家就能拿起物品，并體驗(yàn)被子彈擊中的感覺

?THE BRAVE NEW WORLD Aldous Huxley describes?in his novel of that title features the “feelies”?In 1932, its year of publication, movies were turning into?talkies. Feelies must have seemed a logical, if?creepy, extension of that. The book?alludes?to a film at a local theatre with a love scene on a bearskin rug, in which the sensation of every hair of the bear is reproduced.

• feature(to include a particular person or thing as a special feature or to have an important part in sth)以…為特色；起重要作用?例：The hour-long programme will be updated each week and feature highlights from recent games.這個(gè)一小時(shí)的節(jié)目將每周更新，重點(diǎn)介紹近期比賽精彩的部分。Olive oil and garlic feature prominently in his recipes.橄欖油和大蒜在他的食譜中顯得很重要

• talkies有聲電影??silent film默片

• creepy令人毛骨悚然的；讓人不寒而栗的 ?

• if（置于形容詞之前，引出對比）雖然；盡管 He's a good driver, if a little over confident.

• allude暗指；提及

奧爾德斯赫胥黎(Aldous Huxley)筆下的美麗新世界(小說即以此為標(biāo)題)中的- -大創(chuàng)想是“感官電影”(feelies)?。1932年，也就是它出版的那一年，電影開始從默片走向有聲。盡管讓人心里發(fā)毛，但有聲電影進(jìn)-?步發(fā)展為感官電影似乎是順理成章的。書中提到當(dāng)?shù)貏≡荷嫌车囊徊侩娪爸校幸粓鲂芷さ靥?上的激情戲,其中每一根熊毛的觸感都得以再現(xiàn)。

The feelies have still not arrived. But people are working on them. In computer games and virtual reality (VR), two heirs to cinema's role in light entertainment,?practitioners?of the?discipline?of haptics are attempting to add a sense of touch to those of vision and hearing, to increase the illusion of?immersion?in a virtual world. In future, they hope, if you reach out to?pluck?an apple from a tree in such a paradise, your hand will no longer go through it. You will, rather, be able to feel and grasp the fruit, if not actually eat it. Conversely, if it is a paradise lost you are in, and a?baddy?hiding behind the apple tree shoots you, you will feel the bullet's?impact.

• practitioner從業(yè)人員；執(zhí)業(yè)者

• discipline學(xué)科；科目(尤指大學(xué))

• immerse (immerse oneself in…)?使沉浸于…. immersion專心；投入；沉浸

• pluck摘；拔；彈；解救；營救；搶奪?例：Survivors of the wreck were plucked to safety by a helicopter.沉船的幸存者被直升機(jī)營救脫險(xiǎn)?pluck n.勇氣；膽識；意志?pluck up the courage to do…鼓起勇氣做某事

• baddy壞人；惡棍

• impact撞擊；沖擊力；巨大影響?例：Airbags are designed to soften the impact of a car crash.氣囊用來減輕汽車碰撞的沖擊力

感官電影至今還未問世，但人們正在為之努力。如今電腦游戲和虛擬現(xiàn)實(shí)(VR)?繼承了電影在輕娛樂中的作用，這兩個(gè)領(lǐng)域中的觸覺研究人員正試圖在視覺和聽覺之外再加上觸覺，以增強(qiáng)人們在虛擬世界中的沉浸式幻覺體驗(yàn)。他們希望，今后在這樣的虛擬樂園中，如果你伸手去摘樹上的蘋果，你的手將不再會從中穿過，而是能感覺自己握住了蘋果，即便不能真的吃它。反過來說，如果你身處失樂園，躲在蘋果樹后的壞人向你開槍，你也會感受到子彈的沖擊力。

To experience all this a user will wear haptic clothing. The ambitious talk of whole-body haptic suits, but in the case of the apple, the tree and the gunman haptic gloves and a haptic vest would?suffice. Moving a gloved hand creates?corresponding?movement of a user's virtual hand, with sensations appropriate to objects “touched” being fed back via devices?called haptic?actuators,?incorporated into?the glove. Haptic vests similarly stimulate parts of the upper body.

• suffice足夠?例：One example will suffice to illustrate the point.舉一個(gè)例子就足以說明這一點(diǎn)
  

• corresponding相應(yīng)的

• actuator制動器

• incorporate sth. into/in將…包括在內(nèi)；吸收；使并入

為體驗(yàn)到這一切，用戶需要穿上觸覺服裝。人雄心勃勃地大談全身觸覺套裝，但如果只是蘋果、樹和槍手這些場景，有觸覺手套和觸覺背心就足夠了。當(dāng)用戶戴著觸覺手套的手移動時(shí)，虛擬手也會隨之做出相應(yīng)的動作，與“被觸碰”物體相對應(yīng)的觸感會通過集成在手套中的觸覺致動器反饋回來。觸覺背心也以類似的原理觸發(fā)上半身一些部位的知覺。

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Hand in glove

Actuators themselves come in a variety of forms. Those most widely used at the moment are ERMs (eccentric rotating masses) and LRAS (linear resonant actuators). An ERM is a tiny motor that drives a shaft fitted with an off-centre weight which causes the whole thing to vibrate when the shaft spins. An LRA uses an electromagnetic coil to shake a surface. Nowadays, these devices are employed for jobs like alerting smartphone users to incoming messages and reacting when a touchscreen is tapped. But adapting such well-understood technologies for use in VR and gaming should be fairly easy.

致動器本身有很多種。目前使用最廣;泛的是ERM (偏心旋轉(zhuǎn)質(zhì)量致動器)和LRA (線性諧振致動器)。ERM是一種微型電機(jī)，用來驅(qū)動裝有偏心塊的軸，當(dāng)軸旋轉(zhuǎn)時(shí)，整個(gè)致動器都會振動。LRA則是使用電磁線圈來震動表面。如今，這些裝置被用于智能手機(jī)的新消息提醒，以及對點(diǎn)擊觸摸屏做出反應(yīng)等。而要把這些成熟的技術(shù)應(yīng)用于VR和游戲應(yīng)該是相當(dāng)容易的事情。

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ERMs and LRASs are not, however, the only possible approaches to?immersive?haptics. For instance, OWO Game, a Spanish firm, is about to put on sale a haptic vest, worn next to the skin, that relies on electrical?stimulation?rather than vibrating actuators. It delivers?tuneable?levels of?current?to different parts of the?torso. Besides creating?tingling?sensations, these can also cause muscles to?contract. Effects?replicable?using this approach apparently include being shot,?stabbed?and blown up.

• immersive沉浸式的；身臨其境的?

• tuneable可調(diào)節(jié)的?

• tingle感到刺痛?tingling sensations刺痛感
  

• contract?v.收縮；縮??；患??；染??；與…簽訂合同?例：The exercise consists of stretching and contracting the leg muscles.此項(xiàng)訓(xùn)練包括伸展和收縮腿部肌肉?contract AIDS/a virus感染艾滋/病毒

• replicable能復(fù)現(xiàn)的；可復(fù)制的??stab戳；刺；捅

不過，并不是只有ERM和LRA才能實(shí)現(xiàn)沉浸式觸覺。例如，西班牙公司0wo Game即將發(fā)售的一款可以貼身穿著的觸覺背心就使用了電刺激，而不是依靠致動器的振動。它向軀干的不同部位發(fā)送強(qiáng)度可調(diào)節(jié)的電流。除了產(chǎn)生刺痛感，這些電流還能導(dǎo)致肌肉收縮?？雌饋硎褂眠@種方法可以再現(xiàn)被槍擊、刀刺以及炸飛等效果。

In Redmond, Washington, meanwhile, a firm called HaptX has reached for pneumatics, a technology?many might think?had?seen its heyday. Bob Crockett, one of the company's founders, explains that the firm needs?compressed?air to produce a big enough?displacement?of the skin to?effect?a realistic sensation of touch. Other haptic devices, he says, cannot do that.

• heyday鼎盛時(shí)期；最為強(qiáng)大或繁榮的時(shí)期?例：Classic music was in its American heyday, centrally embedded in the culture at large.古典音樂在美國處于全盛時(shí)期，深深植根于整個(gè)文化之中
  

• compress壓緊；壓縮；精簡；濃縮

• effect(to make sth happen)使發(fā)生；實(shí)現(xiàn)；引起

與此同時(shí)，華盛頓州雷德蒙德(Redmond)家名為HaptX的公司已經(jīng)在研究氣動技術(shù)許多人可能認(rèn)為這項(xiàng)技術(shù)已經(jīng)過時(shí)了。公司創(chuàng)始人之一鮑勃克羅克特(Bob Crockett)解釋說，HaptX需要通過壓縮空氣來讓皮膚產(chǎn)生足夠大的位移，以實(shí)現(xiàn)逼真的觸感。他表示，其他觸覺設(shè)備無法做到這一點(diǎn)。

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HaptX's gloves, branded G1, have their air pumped in and out through a network of tubes which?inflate?or?deflate?135 tiny balloons?incorporated into?each glove. The most sensitive of these balloons-those in the fingertips-are less than 1mm in diameter. The gloves' fingers also include pneumatic “exotendons", which?brake?the fingers' movement, thereby simulating the feeling of touching a solid object. The compressor and electronics powering the system are held in a backpack, so a user can move around freely.

• inflate充氣；膨脹；上漲；漲價(jià)?例：The principal effect of the demand for new houses was to inflate prices.對新住宅需求的主要結(jié)果是價(jià)格的上漲

• deflate放氣；使癟下來；使泄氣；挫敗…的銳氣?例：All the criticism had left her feeling totally deflated.所有這些批評使她徹底失去信心

• brake?n.剎車；阻力；阻礙

Haptx的手套G1通過一個(gè)管道網(wǎng)絡(luò)來充氣和抽氣，讓每只手套內(nèi)的135個(gè)微小氣囊脹大或收縮。最敏感的氣囊位于指尖處，直徑不到1毫米。手套的手指部位還包括氣動的‘外骨骼肌腱”，可以抑制手指的運(yùn)動，從而模擬觸摸固體的感覺。壓縮機(jī)和為系統(tǒng)供電的電子設(shè)備都裝在背包里，這樣用戶就可以自由移動。

None of this will be cheap. A pair of G1 gloves will?set you back?at least $4, 500. The initial market, though, is?corporate, rather than?retail. Early customers are expected to include organizations that already use VR for training and want to improve the experience: medical schools teaching operating techniques to surgeons, for example, or workshops that repair jet engines. Another use might be to permit?collaboration?between engineers living in different parts of the world. People working on a new car, say, could meet in a virtual laboratory, tinker with virtual components, and?pass around?virtual copies of their designs.

• collaborate合作；協(xié)作??collaboration n.

這些小玩意都價(jià)格不菲。一副G1手套至少?要花你4500美元。不過，它最初的銷售對象是企業(yè)用戶，而不是個(gè)人。預(yù)計(jì)其早期客戶將包括一些已經(jīng)在使用VR進(jìn)行培訓(xùn)并希望改善培訓(xùn)效果的機(jī)構(gòu)，比如向外科醫(yī)生教授手術(shù)技術(shù)的醫(yī)學(xué)院，或者噴氣式發(fā)動機(jī)的維修工廠等。另一個(gè)用途也許是讓在世界不同地方的工程師可以相互合作。比如說，新車型的研制人員可以在虛擬實(shí)驗(yàn)室里碰面，對虛擬組件進(jìn)行修改調(diào)整,以及傳閱虛擬的設(shè)計(jì)圖稿。

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There is, though,?a further reason?why HaptX has chosen pneumatics: it does not intend to stop at making gloves. It has plans for a whole-body haptic suit and thinks pneumatic actuation will be easier to?scale up?than something based on electric motors. It is?cagey?about details, but users would don an over the body- including forces that pull a user's hands downward, so he or she would feel the weight of virtual objects.

• scale up增大；擴(kuò)大(規(guī)?；驍?shù)量)

• cagey守口如瓶的；諱莫如深的?be cagey about…

不過，HaptX之所以選擇氣動技術(shù)還有一一個(gè)更深層次的原因:它不打算僅僅制造手套。它計(jì)劃開發(fā)全身觸覺套裝，并且認(rèn)為氣動致動比電動致動更容易量產(chǎn)。Haptx對細(xì)節(jié)諱莫如深，只是說如果用戶穿戴上一套外骨骼，全身都能產(chǎn)生知覺--包括將用戶雙手向下拉的力，這樣用戶就能感受到虛擬物體的重量。

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Unvested interest?非穿戴式應(yīng)用

?VR and gaming are the high end of haptics. But ways of improving haptic feedback in the non-virtual world are important, too. Smartphones, computers and the touch screens now?proliferating?in vehicles, fast- food venues and so on could all benefit from a bit of haptic feedback.

• proliferate(to increase rapidly in number or amount)迅速增殖；猛增

VR和游戲?qū)儆谟|覺技術(shù)的高端市場。但設(shè)法改善非虛擬世界中的觸覺反饋也很重要。智能手機(jī)、電腦和觸摸屏如今在汽車、快餐店等場所被大量使用，它們都可以從增加一些觸覺中受益

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Aito, a firm based in Amsterdam, hopes to provide just that. It produces haptic systems for laptops and other digital devices. These employ actuators based on?piezoelectric materials, which?shrink?or expand in response to a?voltage, producing a slight movement. And the process works in?reverse, as well. When squeezed, a piezoelectric crystal generates a current. This means piezo materials can be employed both as actuators and as sensors.

• piezoelectric壓電的

• shrink收縮；縮小；退縮；畏縮

• voltage電壓

• in reverse相反?reverse v.顛倒；徹底轉(zhuǎn)變；使相反；廢除；撤銷??adj.相反的；反面的

阿姆斯特丹的Aito公司希望能夠提供這樣的產(chǎn)品。Aito為筆記本電腦和其他數(shù)字設(shè)備生產(chǎn)觸覺系統(tǒng)。這些系統(tǒng)采用基于壓電材料的致動器，這種材料會隨著電壓的變化而收縮或膨脹，從而產(chǎn)生輕微的運(yùn)動。這個(gè)過程也可以逆轉(zhuǎn)。當(dāng)受到擠壓時(shí)，壓電晶體會產(chǎn)生電流。也就是說，壓電材料既可以用作致動器，也可以用作傳感器。

Aito's actu-sensors have three layers. Their covers are plastic, glass or even wood. Below lies a?capacitance grid, which determines, from the change?created in the grid's electric field, the position of a finger touching the device.??The?third layer is a matrix of piezo activators. All three combine into something?barely?1.8mm thick that can be?incorporated?into touch screens and touch pads.

Aito的致動傳感器有三層。最外層由塑料、玻璃，甚至木頭制成。中間層是電容柵極,它根據(jù)柵極電場中產(chǎn)生的變化來確定手指觸碰設(shè)備的位置。第三層是壓電激活器的矩陣。這三層合在一起只有1.8毫米厚，可以集成到觸摸屏或觸控板上。

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When an actu-sensor detects a finger it responds appropriately, according to the position and pressure of the?digit?in question. It might create clicks. Or rumbles. Or form the screen's upper layer into a stable but?scratchy?surface that would cause a finger or a plastic?stylus?to feel like a fountain pen?gliding?over paper, or like a brush painting on canvas.

• digit數(shù)字；腳趾；手指
  

• scratchy扎人的；粗糙刺激皮膚的；潦草的

• stylus觸控筆；指示筆

當(dāng)致動傳感器檢測到手指時(shí)，它會根據(jù)手指所處的位置和施加的壓力做出適當(dāng)?shù)姆磻?yīng)。它可能發(fā)出咔噠聲，或者咕嚕聲?；蛘咦屍聊坏纳蠈颖３址€(wěn)定，但呈現(xiàn)粗糙的質(zhì)感，用手指或塑料觸控筆時(shí)就像鋼筆在紙張上書寫，或者像畫筆在畫布上作畫。

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With the introduction of?portable?devices that have?foldable?screens, the lower half might thereby be used as a haptic keyboard. It could be programmed to provide a?tactile?response like that of a mechanical keyboard, but with additional features, says Nedko Ivanov, Aito's boss. For instance, pressing down harder would?capitalise?a letter, doing away with the need fora shift key.

• portable便攜式的；輕便的

• tactile觸覺的?tactile fabric手感好的織物

隨著帶折疊屏的便攜設(shè)備的應(yīng)用，設(shè)備的下半部分或許可以被用作觸覺鍵盤。Aito的老板內(nèi)德科.伊萬諾夫(Nedko Ivanov)表示，通過編程，它可以提供類似機(jī)械鍵盤的觸覺反應(yīng)，不過還帶有額外功能。比如，加大按壓力度就能讓字母變成大寫，而不用按shift鍵。

This would also allow devices to be slimmer and lighter. And the same machine could be sold in different places without having to?modifyits?hardware, for a screen-based haptic keyboard could be programmed to use whatever?character set?was appropriate to the local language.

這也會讓設(shè)備變得更薄更輕。而且同樣的機(jī)器不用修改硬件就能在不同的地方銷售，這是因?yàn)榛谄聊坏挠|覺鍵盤通過編程可以使用任何適合當(dāng)?shù)卣Z言的字符集。

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Some of these new features will work their way into cars, too-especially as conventional dashboard switches are replaced more and more by icons on a screen. Without a satisfying mechanical click, it can be hard to tell, without taking your eyes off the road, whether such icons have been?activated?or deactivated.

• activate激活；啟動?例：The burglar alarm is activated by movement.這防盜警報(bào)器一動就會響

其中一些新功能也將被用到汽車上一一尤其是當(dāng)傳統(tǒng)的儀表盤開關(guān)越來越多地被屏幕上的圖標(biāo)取代。沒有了機(jī)械開關(guān)那種令人心安的咔噠聲，駕駛員在視線不離開路面的情況下很難判斷這些圖標(biāo)有沒有被開啟或關(guān)閉。

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And there is also one other potentially big use for haptics.?Pornographers?were early pioneers of the internet (and, indeed, of film and photography before that). So it is hardly surprising a number of them are now working on virtual sex encounters- known in the trade as "teledildonics' '. Some companies producing sex toys, for example, have already begun adding Bluetooth-enabled items to their range, allowing couples to link up remotely, as it were. Perhaps Huxley wasn't so far off the money after all.

觸覺技術(shù)可能還有另一大用途。色情內(nèi)容制作者曾經(jīng)是互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的早期先行者(事實(shí)上，在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)問世之前，他們也是電影和攝影的先行者)。因此，也就不奇怪他們中的一些人正在研究虛擬的性接觸(業(yè)內(nèi)稱之為“遠(yuǎn)程性愛")。例如，一些情趣用品公司已經(jīng)開始在它們的產(chǎn)品線中添加有藍(lán)牙功能的產(chǎn)品，讓情侶們可以遠(yuǎn)程互動?；蛟S赫胥黎的想象終究不是太離譜。

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